Juelz Goff easily could have bolted for another program.
The three-star running back and York, Pa., native held Power Five offers from Boston College, Duke, and Rutgers throughout his recruiting process. Though Pitt was the lone program he visited in his recruitment, the two coaches who gave him the hardest looks and provoked a commitment to Pitt were no longer with the program by the time National Signing Day came around.
Andre Powell was no longer the running backs coach, and Frank Cignetti Jr. was no longer the offensive coordinator. What once was promised to Goff was now in the air, with a new coach set to take over his position and Kade Bell set to change the entire outlook of the Panthers' offense. Nothing, suddenly, became guaranteed, as is the case for any player whose primary recruiter suddenly leaves a program.
Goff stayed aboard and signed with Pitt anyway. It was the relationship built with Pat Narduzzi in his recruiting process that kept him here, and it will be the relationships other members of the roster and he build with their respective position coaches that will keep them here indefinitely.
But at the end of the day, it comes back to he relationships forged with Narduzzi.
"I think it's bigger than just football for me," Goff said Wednesday on the South Side. "I think Pitt has a real good community and I think they develop young men very good. I wanted to stick with coach Narduzzi and the rest of the staff because I knew that he would bring in a good coach, and I trust him."
Relationships can only go so far, especially in the transfer portal era of this sport. But when something as strong as Narduzzi's relationships can keep players aboard even through drastic coaching changes, that only says more about the community aspect of that program.
On the offensive side of the ball, Narduzzi has replaced his offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach, his running backs coach, his tight ends coach, and his offensive line coach, and he soon will have to replace his wide receivers coach with Tiquan Underwood set to leave for the NFL. On defense, Narduzzi replaced his defensive line coach, as Charlie Partridge left for the NFL. Pitt announced Wednesday that former Syracuse and Eastern Carolina defensive line coach Tim Daoust was hired to replace Partridge.
Jacob Bronowski was brought in to coach tight ends and special teams, effectively replacing Tim Salem and Powell's posts. Bronowski, who recently spent time at Miami of Ohio as its special teams coordinator, said his relationship with Narduzzi began in January when Bell called him to interview the next day, in person, at the AFCA convention in Nashville.
"These are the opportunities you want," Bronowski said Wednesday. "I've known about coach Narduzzi in the profession. I did not have a prior relationship with him, but I've known about what coach Narduzzi's all about. He's been an established head coach. When I was at Tennessee (in 2021) they came down to Knoxville and ultimately grinded out a gritty win on the road. That tells you all you need to know about a guy ... That's a guy you want to come work for, that's a head coach you want to come work for because there's a reason that team's that gritty and able to do that on the road."
Relationship building within a head coach's staff is an extension of that coach to his players. Bronowski's tight ends room has Gavin Bartholomew in it, and he should be a primary fixture of the Panthers' offense in 2024.
Bronowski knows how important Bartholomew will be to this team's success, and he's working to figure out how to get the best out of a player who was underused over the last two seasons.
"For me, my message is just, 'be who you are every single day,'" Bronowski said. "What a great opportunity for him because he's such a competitive guy. He's been through the ups, he's been through the downs. Now, for him, the challenge is can he be that consistent pillar in everything that you're doing and let that be contagious to those around you. We've got a lot of youth. You look at that wide receiver room, there's a lot of youth in there. He's got a lot of hats to wear but I think ultimately that's going to benefit him because now he's really going to take that next jump and get back to where he was and even more."
Whether it's head coach to player, head coach to assistant coach, assistant coach to player, or player to player, this circle has to be able to work in unison. The 2023 Panthers team saw a myriad of disconnects, and that's why it finished with just three wins after earning 20 in the two seasons prior.
"All of the quarterbacks are really close," incoming freshman Julian Dugger said. "We're real tight. Our quarterback room is real tight and any time I have questions they'll help me with anything. Always looking out for me."
